Australian coach Joe Schmidt didn’t bother to stop off and vote on Friday, although he said he was tempted to ask the team bus driver. Had he done so he would have voted for Australia to build on their lead after half-time. Instead, Ireland punched back with a try from Caelan Doris just after the break, which brought them right back into the match.
“I was talking to the bus driver and said yeah maybe drop me off and I’ll have a vote here,” joked Schmidt after the game.
“We were talking about you can’t beat them [Ireland] with a sledgehammer, you’ve got to get the scalpel out and you got to be accurate. That’s the best way to open them up.
“I think we probably opened them up enough times to get scoreboard separation. When you get to 13-5 that’s a nice separation. If we could have scored first after half time and it’s our kick-off kick it deep and then suddenly give up a penalty ... yeah that was disappointment. I felt if we could have built on that lead for the first 10 minutes after half time it could have just emphasised the pressure Ireland were under.”
Schmidt was aware of both Irish outhalves, Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley. Prendergast started the match with Crowley coming into the game late in the second half. Despite being on the other side of the world, the Australian coach still keeps in touch with Irish coaches and Richie Murphy had previously spoken to him about Prendergast.
“I think young Sam – I’d still be a good friend with Richie Murphy – Richie was talking about him two years ago as a real talent so it was no surprise to me,” said Schmidt. “He’s got a great short-kicking game, but his long-kicking game was exceptional tonight. I thought a couple of times they got penalties and he put us deep into our 22. Yeah, when that is happening it’s pretty difficult because there’s not a lot of Oxygen out there.
“I think we did isolate him a few times tonight, we put some pressure on him and he did look a little flustered which is unusual for the young man that he is he is usually very, very calm. He’s got great potential.
“I got to say, I’d be a fan of Jack Crowley as well. I think Jack is a super player and a very brave one. He is a very good defender.”
Schmidt had to balance his exposure to his Irish friends with preparing a young Australian side for the game. Australia also faces the Lions next summer with Andy Farrell as Head Coach. This was Farrell’s last match with this group of players until after next summer.
“Again, for me coming back it was about trying to prepare this team as best I could without being too distracted by the number of catch ups I’ve had during the week,” said Schmidt. “I’ll hit home to Churchtown for a week to catch up with family and friends.
“I’ve felt the same warmth that I felt for 10 years here. My family were incredibly well looked after here. I think they talk about Dublin and how some kids they stay at home forever. Ours just stay long enough for us to leave instead of them leaving home. My daughter is here. I think my son will end up shipping back here with his Irish wife. We continue to be a split family with a very heavy Irish and Kiwi influence and currently an Aussie intention to keep improving.”
On Australia facing the Lions in the summer, Schmidt was hopeful but was also reminded by Ireland’s narrow 22-19 win that much work still has to be done to make the three Test matches competitive.
“I was proud of them team [Australia],” he said. “I think they demonstrated a little bit of the grit that you need. We’ve still got some guys who have a played a couple of Tests and they are still learning. The Super Rugby window will be great for them.
“We’ll get together for a couple of days in January, January 8-10 and that will allow us to sign off on this year and plot our way ahead and then we get together a week or two before the Lions arrive. That in itself is a real challenge, but I do think we’ve built enough confidence and cohesion this year that we can pick it up again late June, early July next year.”
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